Homes beside Google down 65% from peak

Over 800 people on list for 26 apartments and houses beside Google HQ with prices starting at €155,000

APARTMENTS and townhouses beside Google’s headquarters in Barrow Street, Dublin 4, go on sale today with prices starting at €155,000 – down an average 65.5 per cent from their peak values in 2006.

Twenty of the Liam Carroll-built apartments along with six townhouses in the popular development are being sold by receiver Grant Thorton through sales agents HT Meagher O’Reilly New Homes.

In an unusual move, Ulster Bank which financed Liam Carroll to build the development, is to offer mortgages for the purchase of the units, and will consider applications from investors as well as owner occupiers. Until now banks have been refusing mortgages to investors.

However, David Browne of HT Meagher O’Reilly expects the units to sell mainly to cash buyers.

The agency already has a database of over 800 potential buyers for the one, two and three-bedroom units all of which come with underground parking spaces.

The apartments are located in three blocks in the scheme, The Clayton, The Dickens and The Hibernian.There are none available in the circular building housed within the old gasometer where 200 units were rented out rather than sold

One-beds range in price from €155,000, for a unit that does not have much of a view, to €199,000 for a splendid fifth floor apartment with a ringside view of the Aviva stadium.

A spacious three-bedroom penthouse with the same south-facing view, and a long balcony is priced at €385,000. On average, two-bedroom apartments are priced at €270,000, a reduction of 65 per cent from the peak price of €765,000 including parking.

A row of three-bedroom town houses are priced between €350,000 and €370,000, down 60 per cent from their 2006 peak price of €950,000. These have rented out for up to €1,800 each.

According to Browne, the majority of the units will be sold with vacant possession, though some are tenanted. Rents are strong thanks to the Google workforce. One-bedroom units are currently letting at €1,050 to €1,200, according to Browne, while two-beds are making €1,250 to €1,400.

The Gasworks is one of the most densely built sites in the capital with a total of about 600 units.